Micheal Ray Richardson, one of the best American basketball players who ever played in the Italian basketball championship, has died: he was 70 years old and had been ill for some time. A former NBA player, he arrived in the Italian League in the late 1980s, after being banned from playing in the American League following three cases of cocaine testing. The fame of Richardson, known by the nickname “Sugar”, is mainly attributed to Virtus Bologna, with whom he played from 1988 to 1991, winning two Italian Cups and one Cup Winners’ Cup and establishing himself as one of the best players of that period. He left Bologna after testing positive for cocaine again. In the following years he played at Livorno (from 1992 to 1994), at Forlì (1998-1999 season) and again at Livorno (1999-2000).
Michael Ray Richardson, one of the best American basketball players who ever played in the Italian basketball championship, dies at the age of 70
